[Pedro Poitevin]

I've written an entry per sin
but only one's stirring within,
for all have their seed
in just one sin, greed,
and the rest are just there for the win.

[Brian Allgar]

Sorry, Pedro, I disagree:

It’s greed that brings the necessary money,
And envying others keeps me on my toes,
While gluttony’s required to keep my strength up
When meeting some young lovely English rose;
Sloth takes the form of staying in the bedroom
(I take no pride in cleaning, hence the dust);
My wrath and disappointment would destroy me
If I no longer could indulge my lust.

[Roger Slater]

I guess this one doesn't suit the contest:

The sins that are deadly are seven.
Just one, and you're blackballed from heaven!
But I've thought of more!
To these seven, add four!
Come close, and we'll count to eleven!

[Brian Allgar]

It certainly doesn't suit the contest, Roger, but I'd love to know more - I'm always on the lookout for new sins to be tempted by.

[Chris O'Carroll]

Christopher Fry wrote an inspired line about the deadly sins in The Lady's Not for Burning. Thomas Mendip says, "And it's better to go for the lively ones."

I doubt I have it in me to submit seven poems for this competition. So my plan is to rank the deadlies in order of liveliness -- lust in first place, sloth in the cellar -- and work my way down the list until I run out of steam, or out of time.

[Brian Allgar]

It's better to go for the lively ones

That would exclude necrophilia, then?

[John Whitworth]

I love work. I can sit and look at it for hours. Jerome K Jerome

[Pedro Poitevin]

Chris's point made me think...

Yes, lust is the liveliest sin,
for although it strives to end in
the murmur of death,
a gasp, then one breath,
and life must resume or begin.